Is it annoying or polite if I send a "thanks" email reply to a busy department?

[JuneSpoon]

Let me explain:
Say for example I email the car insurance company or the electricity company with a question and they reply. If I then email again to say "great thanks" is that annoying? Because if everyone who had a question and received an answer responded "ok thanks" then half the emails the person has to wade through are irrelevant really. Does the customer support person sigh when they log on and see 623 new emails. Then as they click through it becomes clear that lots of them are thank yous?

So should I stop responding "ok thanks" or are good manners still important here?

Or if an email comes from a small business what's the story? I emailed a beautician to see if she did X treatment. She replied no. I replied "ok thanks". Am I wasting her time?

(Sorry for wasting everyone's time reading this!)

I don't think it's a waste of time because it means you gained a response and they know your email is working.

I think with a big company, like your energy provider, there's no point because chances are the person who's answered your question won't ever see it anyway.

Honestly though, when half the emails in my inbox are people saying thanks and not requiring any further communication, it makes me happy because starting the day with 30 actionable emails rather than 60 can only be a good thing

When I was at uni, the lecturers all had "If you're just emailing back to say "thanks" please don't - your time is as valuable as ours and we already have lots of emails to get through! Enjoy your day :)." ..or something like that.

I don't think companies like that care about the politeness of each individual customer to that extent, so long as each email/phonecall is polite in its own right.

I work in a uni and I would say it’s not annoying at all!

Firstly, it can be dispiriting when you put in loads of work into a case to get no response.

Second - it’s lovely to open an e mail and see it requires exactly zero work from me, yet ‘closing the case’ on the system makes it look like I’ve done some work. Win win!

I think it's nice, especially if you're replying quickly or if the person has spent time on your request.

My parents, and half my customers, seem to consider "thank you"s redundant. I find that a bit odd TBH, especially with my parents who are so obsessed with children writing thank you letters.

If I foresee a need for thank you, I include it with my request.

"Hi Janet"
"Please can you send me the completed report by midday Thursday."

"Thanks in advance"
"Buzz"

Ok. Thanks to all of you!

I'll keep sending them so. It doesn't even take me any time as Gmail has the automatic response button at the bottom, you can just choose one of the replies and hit send

Gmail has the automatic response button at the bottom, you can just choose one of the replies and hit send

Isn't that worse though? Like you couldn't even be bothered to type out 5 letters to them?

I've seen a similar thing on on Linked In, where you can click a button to say (for example) "Congrats Sarah" when they mention they have a new job. Then follows a dozen lazy arses all saying "Congrats Sarah". I always make a point to actually type something so they know it's genuinely meant.

i work for a big company and get thank you emails quite often, honestly they make me smile and bring a bit of satisfaction to my job. My job is to help customers with their needs so having some one recognize my help is a lovely feeling.. especially when bosses dont really acknowledge what you do. I'd say look at who the email is signed off by, at the end of mine is my personal name.. but if the end of the email says for eg; 'regards, the helpdesk' then i wouldnt bother, as anyone and everyone could have been involed in your query, and your email will not go back directly to the person that helped you.

Theres never an issue with being nice

Buzz I meant more that it's not laziness on my part that's making me second guess, I don't mind sending a thank you email.

Tbh there's only so many ways to say thank you so I'm happy to pick one of Gmail's stock replies. I really don't think the customer service representative will be irritated that I said "thanks for that" instead of "thanks a million for that" . I'm more concerned they'd be irritated by the unnecessary email!

I find it awkward in what's app groups though - how many ways are there to say "Happy Birthday"? Not enough!

Ok. Thanks to all of you!

See, I feel thanked now! You're welcome

It's never occurred to me that "thanks in advance" could be a substitute for saying thank you afterwards. I read it more as a way of asking politely, like saying "please".

@MellyNotSmelly because 'thanks in advance' isn't a replacement. It's an instruction poorly disguised as a request.

Eloquently put AmIThough.

Do it. It takes a nanosecond to read and makes them feel appreciated and acknowledged.

Do they need to know you've received their reply?

If yes, then thanks is helpful. If not, then it's neither here nor there.

Why not personalize a reply? 'You have helped me so much', 'thank you, really kind' etc.

I do this (have standard ones) unless very stressed, my take is that you may give those receiving a nice moment/a better day. And if not read, so what?

Probably old fashioned, but so far well received .

I tend to think sitting in a call center/customer service must be shit with all those complaints, so I try to be very nice. So far I have been sent red wine, several cinema tickets and sweet vouchers, just for being understanding that thing weren't working smoothly.

If you can make someone's day better, go for it .